When Light Surpasses Darkness
by randomisking
Summary: The battle is over and Voldemort has been defeated. Hermione and Ron are left to reflect on all that has happened and comfort each other in their grief.


**A/N: I can't remember if it was night when the Hogwarts battle ended in Deathly Hallows, but I know most of you superfans will remember, so FOR THE SAKE OF THE STORY, please pretend it ended at night. Thanks! :)**

**This is my first attempt at writing Harry Potter fanfiction, so please bear with me, and try to avoid being harsh in the comments. However, if it really is so terrible as I think it is, I understand if the harshness can't be avoided. It's basically just some long-winded drabble, a reflection through Hermione's eyes, with a little Ron/Hermione romance mixed in.**

**This is dedicated to my lovely friend, lifeisveryshortsoami, in honor of her 20****th**** birthday today. (April 18) Leave her some love in the comments! She deserves it! Anyways, Melissa, you're amazing, and I'm sorry your birthday present kind of sucks and probably won't live up to your expectations. Feel free to give me some grief on Twitter. I won't object. But I really do hope you like it. I did try my best. Perhaps Harry Potter fanfiction is not my strong point… and if it's really unbelievably terrible, I'll be happy to replace it with a different ship…**

**Last thing: if any of you read Glee fanfiction… I do write a multi-chapter called "The Proof Is In the Picture", and for once, that is a story I'm rather proud of. It's a Sam/Quinn fic, if that helps. Head on over and check it out if you wish.**

**Thanks in advance to anyone who reads/reviews this story or my other ones! I really appreciate it!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, but if I did probably no one would read it, because there's no way I can do JKR justice…**

It was over. The battle that had threatened to take the freedom of our world was over. But it had not ended without taking its toll. So many were dead. People with lives, families, dreams… all cut short because of Lord Voldemort. I felt selfish, sitting there in my own pain, against the wall next to the portrait where the Fat Lady had once lived, before she had raced off to another portrait during the fight. I was lucky, and I knew it. But knowing is different than feeling, and in the midst of all that had happened, I found it a little hard to feel lucky. But then I remembered that I could have so easily been one of those dead. Or someone like Ron, who had lost his brother. And it wasn't like it was Fred playing another joke, like he always had. This time he wasn't going to sit up and taunt us all for being so gullible in believing he was dead, while assuring us that he was fine. No, this time he was gone. And he wasn't coming back.

I sat silently in the dark, cool night, which seemed endless when I realized how much had happened in so few hours. The darkness enveloped me, and I felt terribly alone, the empty portrait of the fat lady next to me a sad, constant reminder of the loneliness. Against my will, my mind replayed the haunting moment of Fred's fall, his eyes still bright and laughing. He had crumpled to the floor as if in slow motion, yet seconds later, as his brothers rushed to his side, they seemed to be moving too fast. It felt like the world had stopped in his death, and it was too soon to move.

Then I remembered the way Ron had fallen too, crouching over the brother he'd loved so deeply, and my heart ached for him. In that moment, Ron had reminded me what true love is: Ron's pain had been my pain. It was an out of body moment, and Ron's sadness had crippled me. I had felt it so deeply in my heart that it was as if my own dear brother had died. And I suppose it was like that, in a way. Fred had, after all, been like a brother to me, and someday, I hoped to officially enter the Weasley family. But I wasn't ready to think about that hope yet, not when there was still so much pain for the Weasleys and everyone else who had lost their loved ones.

Yet still I selfishly thought of what I had given up to fight. My own family, my parents, were gone too. Somewhere off in Australia or somewhere by now, with no memories of the daughter they'd once loved so deeply. I didn't know if I should take them out of that life and put their memories back, or even if that was the right thing to do. Life is a chain, and there comes a point when children must take care of their parents. I had now reached that point, and I knew I would soon come to a crossroads on how to do what was in my parents' best interest.

I hadn't yet cried since the battle, and I suppose it was because everything was still sinking in. But thinking of my parents brought tears to my eyes, and before I knew it, my face was in my hands, and I was sobbing. Not just for the family I'd lost, but also for the hundreds of other wizards who had lost their lives or families or homes since Lord Voldemort came to power, and the way so many things had changed in such a short period of time.

Lost in my own thoughts, I didn't hear Ron come up the stairs and sit down softly next to me. But then he pulled me into his chest, rubbing my back in a circular motion. "It's okay, Hermione." He said. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. It's over."

Somehow, the words "It's over" made me cry harder, but Ron continued to comfort me, holding me close to him. "Blimey, it all seems so crazy, doesn't it?" He whispered, and I knew he was speaking just as much to himself as he was to me. "But," he seemed to reassure himself, "It's done. We don't have to live in fear anymore or even fight anymore."

He was quiet for a moment as my tears began to subside. Then he laughed a little. "It's going to be so different now." He said. "I don't remember what it's like to be normal, to not have any worries."

"I know." I whispered back. And then a question I'd long pondered and been afraid of came out. "But Ron, what if we've been living in fear so long that we don't know how to go on without it?"

He shrugged, but didn't seem to bothered by my idea. "I'd say that's kind of unlikely, considering the circumstances. Learning to live without fear is the easy part."

"Then what's the hard part?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know.

He pulled me closer to him. "Learning to live for the people that didn't make it through the fearful times. For Harry's parents, and Dumbledore, and…" his voice broke on the name, "Fred."

I watched his eyes fill up with tears as he thought of his brother, and I knew he was recalling past memories as well as Fred's haunting final moments. "Ron." I said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

He didn't say anything, just nodded solemnly and closed his eyes, I suppose to prevent the tears from falling. We stayed quiet for a moment, in reverent silence for those who had been lost. I don't think either or us really wanted to break the silence, it was comfortable somehow, like we had both caught hold of something we'd been chasing for a long time and didn't want to let go.

When Ron opened his eyes, he took his Deluminator out of his pocket, turning it over in his hands. He appeared to be deep in thought, and I didn't want to break the silence. Then he said, "I think I know why Dumbledore left this to me. Maybe it wasn't because he knew I'd leave, or he knew I'd need a way to come back. Maybe it was because he knew we were going to win in the end. Maybe this was his way of showing me that light will always surpass darkness."

It seemed odd, to speak of a coming light in a night that seemed so dark and endless. But I knew that it would come. Dawn would break, and it would be a bright new day, the first one in years not marred by fear. But while I was excited for dawn to arrive, I also knew that the darkness was a time to reflect, to sit in silence and remember those who had fought as well as ponder what was to come. It was a safe moment, and the world seemed not to move, as though it didn't want to disturb the silence that had fallen over the usually bustling castle. The darkness, too, felt safe somehow, so unlike nights past, spent in constant waiting for Voldemort to appear. But before long, I was ready for the sun to return. I was not scared anymore by the darkness, but the still quiet now seemed prolonged, and I wished it would end so I could put away such darkness for good.

"Ron, do you think we're finally out of the darkness?" I asked finally.

He paused for a moment, thinking it over, and then shrugged. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"I think things are only going to get better from here." I answered confidently. "Maybe, as we learn to live for everyone who didn't make it, we're also going to learn how to live for ourselves in the light. It's been so long since we were allowed to be happy, Ron. Now we can let ourselves be joyful."

He shook his head slowly, but not in disagreement. Instead, he was smiling. "I am happy." He told me. "Being here, with you, and knowing that the only plans we have from this point on are to… to be together."

I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I think we're going to be happy, Ron. Maybe it's not time to celebrate yet, but I think we're going to be very happy someday."

He smiled at me again, but it was tinged with sadness. "I don't think Fred would want it any other way. Or any of them, really. They'd want us to go on with our lives after all this, wouldn't they?"

I wasn't sure if it was a rhetorical question. "I think Fred would be upset if we _weren't_ happy." I told him. "His life was so joyful, even through the darkness surrounding it. I think it's our turn now to be happy."

"I guess I just can't believe it's really over." Ron said. "And from now on, there's nothing in the immediate future to worry about. Voldemort's not coming back to life this time. There's no more horcruxes or… anything. It's a complete fresh start."

I knew he was still sort of talking to himself, and it was just as well because I was beginning to fall asleep. I was so exhausted from the day's events, but I couldn't picture a happier place to be at that moment than in Ron's arms. He bet down and kissed me on the top of the head, and I was elated to know that we were now free to show our feelings to each other. After a few minutes, I glanced up towards his face and saw that his eyes, too, were closed, and his breathing was becoming softer and more steady as he drifted off. Strangely, I had never felt more safe than in that moment, even though I was still so unsure of my future. So I allowed myself to fall asleep as well.

I awoke just as dawn came, and light broke through the dark, still night and streamed in through the windows of the castle. To my right, I watched the fat lady reappear in her portrait, proving that what Ron had said was true: after a long night comes a new dawn, because light will always surpass darkness.


End file.
